JACKSON'S CHALLENGE

...Sensing Republican vulnerability, many black Democrats have argued that a candidate with broad appeal (read: white male) could recapture the White House...

...Gradually at first, and then in growing numbers, black activists, radical intellectuals, and organizers began to boost his still tentative candidacy...

...There's no doubt Jackson has his flaws...

...One area Jackson hopes to penetrate is the Hispanic community, which was surprisingly unreceptive to him in 1984...

...It leaves an inequitable and destructive national consensus untouched except by a rhetoric which exhausts its listeners more than it empowers them...

...Jarrett, who is black, has since modified his opinion of Jackson...

...Such prominent nationalists as Mau-lana Karenga support Jackson, though with some reservations...

...As the 1984 elections approached, the black Left—and the black movement in general—was increasingly frustrated by its impotence...

...In the eyes of the black community, Jesse has gained in stature during his four years in the glare of the national limelight," says Robert Starks, leader of Chicago's Task Force for Political Empowerment and a longtime Jackson confidant...

...SANE's executive director, David Cort-right, is already a member of Jackson's steering committee and serves as unofficial liaison between the Rainbow Coalition and the peace movement...

...With the abrupt withdrawal of Gary Hart from the Democratic field, Jackson has become the front-runner in the polls...

...In April 1986, at the Rainbow Coalition's founding convention, an avowedly gay delegate proposed that lesbians and gays be included on the group's list of constituents in its "statement of purpose...

...When a group of drunken white youths attacked three black men in the working-class neighborhood of Howard Beach, New York, Jackson resisted the appeals of his nationalist supporters to join them in a protest against racism...

...But the criticism that Jackson is a political grandstander won't go away...

...For all his efforts at mending fences and reaching beyond his core black constituency, Jackson still faces criticism of a more personal nature...

...Sales of Mercedes are up while sales of John Deere tractors are down," he said...

...Jesse may have some problems," says Barbara Reynolds, a U.S.A...

...Foreign labor is not better labor," Jackson says...

...In "the small town where the Ku Klux Klan once flourished," people suddenly were "ready to listen...

...In the admiring article, Andrew Kop-kind maintained that the Jackson candidacy had a significance that transcended politics...

...This prompted a black female delegate from Michigan to complain that the specific inclusion of gays and lesbians would run counter to her Christian beliefs, and she strongly urged the delegates to reject the motion...

...Within the Rainbow Coalition, critical supporters cling to anonymity, fearing retribution if their names are used...

...While most mainstream Democrats, afflicted with the trendy "special-interest" phobia, are holding organized labor at arm's length, Jackson openly courts labor groups and working people...

...But the people seem to want leadership that's visible and vigorous...

...Not just the loss of hope, but the growth of fear...

...And that's just a partial list...

...I still think Jackson's candidacy is a positive development for black people," he says...

...To some extent, Jackson was given a pass by many white progressives in 1984 because of his race...

...Not just the closing of a factory, but the death of a community...

...Jackson may be on the right side for the moment, but his allegiance to a progressive secularism can't be taken for granted...

...They think that Jackson's a communist, flat out...

...Karenga calls himself a staunch supporter who is a bit uneasy about Jackson's bid to expand his constituency...

...It is just cheaper labor, and it violates the economic laws of regeneration...

...This kills the flowers of the American economy...

...The disclosure effectively doomed Jackson's prospects for success in the 1984 Presidential primaries...

...Quite frankly, I think Jackson lessens his credibility by so much issue-hopping," says one worried supporter...

...There's a lot of racism in the various Hispanic communities," Casuso says...

...He may excite the left-oriented, college-educated Hispanics who see themselves as a minority group rather than a collection of ethnic groups...

...But expand he must, especially if the Rainbow Coalition is to be more than monochromatic...

...There must be corporate accountability...

...An irony of his political style," writes Adolph Reed, "is that, while ostensibly popular and immediately representative, it is fundamentally antidemocratic...

...Despite his distancing from Farrakhan, Jackson has managed to hold on to much of the nationalist support he attracted in 1984...

...Now that may change as time goes on...

...Though the pow-erbrokers in the Party, along with the mainstream media, disparage Jackson's chances and dismiss his politics, the Jackson candidacy, with its theme of economic justice, promises to bring radical issues to the fore...

...For some, however, such audacity points to Jackson's penchant for authoritarian leadership...

...Jackson's itinerancy, both geographic and thematic, has induced grumbles among even some of his staunchest supporters...

...The Jesse Jackson of 1987 is, in some respects, a changed man...

...In doing so, he unfortunately reproduces one of the most authentically autocratic leadership styles produced by black Americans...

...They specifically note his tendency to make public pronouncements, or convene ad-hoc gatherings, without informing Coalition affiliates of his plans...

...Such rhetoric, and the commitment behind it, has attracted the interest of a growing number of labor leaders, including International Association of Machinists president William Winpisinger, Ken Blay-lock of the American Federation of Government Employees, and Jan Pierce of the Communications Workers of America...

...The thrill of having a black man run is over, and blacks are looking for someone who can win," Tyrone Brooks, the Georgia state representative who chaired Jackson's Georgia campaign in 1984, told Phil Gailey of The New York Times...

...Jesse's audacity is a welcome change...

...In Greenfield, he denounced merger mania, lampooned Wall Street corruption and greed, and lambasted the Reagan Administration's economic policy...

...Jackson is popular only among the progressive fringes of the Hispanic community," says Jorge Casuso, co-author of Hispanics in Chicago...

...into the electoral realm...

...Jackson's preacher-style authoritarianism, his obeisance to Christian dogma, and his penchant for moralizing create discomfort among many on the white Left...

...Jesse's audacity is a welcome change...

...This time around, Jackson was taking a different approach...

...Several minutes of heated debate ensued, and it quickly became clear that all those in opposition to the proposal were black while all the proponents were white...

...There is a widespread impression that he is egocentric and opportunistic...

...In most of the black communities I've visited, and I've visited quite a few in the last few years, the people seem to want leadership that's visible and vigorous," Strickland says...

...This lack of accountability has outright embarrassed many of us and, in many cases, acted to lessen our credibility as leaders of our local chapters," complains one Coalition organizer...

...His Rainbow Coalition in 1984 had drawn overwhelmingly on support from the black community...

...This black, left-leaning candidate "understood the need for a spiritual rejuvenation in rural America," Gannon noted...

...Some on the white Left did fall into the trap Reed describes...

...Many leaders in the peace movement have been reluctant to express support for Jackson because they fear alienating their predominantly white, middle-class members, Cortright acknowledges...

...The watchword in '88 should be direction and priorities," Jackson says...

...The core culture of the black community is conservative, based in large part on a strict reading of Judeo-Christian codes of behavior...

...And, boy, do we need heroes...

...And shrewd operator that he is, he knows that...

...Its endorsement gave Jackson a kind of black seal of approval, and the image many urban blacks had of him—the slickster preacher of African-American folklore—began fading away...

...But I don't think he's at all popular in the general Hispanic community...

...But I'm not sure he's devoted sufficient attention to developing his black base...

...to slave labor conditions...

...In the past, we were often saddled with leaders who shrank away from voicing our interests...

...The crowd that swelled Greenfield that day in March gave Jackson an unexpectedly enthusiastic reception...

...Other black officials who opposed Jackson's first run, including Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington and Atlanta's Andrew Young, are moving closer to him as he readies for another try...

...And in Jackson's case, he'd probably get no votes from Cuban-Americans, most of whom are rabidly anticommunist...

...They neglected to see that Jackson was a Left symbol, a lightning rod for disenchanted idealists...

...tuals inspired by the cultural nationalism of the 1960s and 1970s, Jackson undoubtedly was influenced by some of the anti-Jewish notions common to those circles, ideas that bore a close resemblance to classical anti-Semitism...

...The criticism carries a certain weight coming from Clay, a former communications director for Jackson's Operation PUSH and a skilled organizer...

...in fact, he now supports his candidacy...

...Jackson's pulpit pumping...

...But Jackson's attempt to address such social issues as gay rights has exposed sharp racial divisions between whites and blacks within the Rainbow Coalition...

...But with the establishment of Rainbow affiliate chapters in states across the country, all questions about Jackson's ability to put together a nuts-and-bolts political organization will be answered...

...There's a general consensus that Jackson will attract at least as much black support in 1988 as he did four years ago...

...Other Hispanic groups are much less inclined to vote for a black candidate...

...Jackson aimed "masterful metaphors at the aching heart of rural America," wrote James Gannon, editor of The Des Moines Register...

...Howard Beach and Harlem are two sides of the same devalued coin," he said...

...forecloses congregational dissent and eludes real tests of accountability," Jim Sleeper argued in Commonweal last November...

...Everywhere, I have heard a similar concern...

...But whether mainstream black politicians will come aboard remains an open question...

...The proposal eventually passed, and gays and lesbians were included in the Rainbow's platform, but the divergence of views on the issue indicated deeper divisions between the white Left-liberal community and black activists—the two major components of the Coalition...

...When these corporations get their nectar from America, they sow their pollen in Taiwan, South Africa, and South Korea...

...But they should not detract from the substantive left-wing politics that he brings before the American public, and they cannot gainsay the value Jackson has had for the black community...

...His initial embrace of, and later dissociation from, the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan symbolized his journey through the residual chauvinism that was part of his background...

...One segment of the black community is less enchanted with the new Jackson...

...was the 'country preacher' and that it was going to be him or no one in 1984," Mar-able writes in Black American Politics...

...But when it became clear that Jackson was also a thinking candidate with a plausible, progressive platform, his ideas were not taken seriously...

...Since he made the Hymie remark in 1984, Jackson has become as silent on the issue of U.S...

...relations with Israel as he' once was vocal," Chicago journalist Nate Clay wrote in the Nation of Islam's publication, The Final Call...

...As Marable puts it, "the 'egocentric' proponent of Black Capitalism, in short, became one of the most left-wing national spokesmen in a national campaign since Eugene V. Debs...

...He's addressed Iowans on farm problems, teens in Arkansas about drugs, business executives in New York City about corporate responsibility, and state legislators in Texas and Mississippi about economic dislocation...

...These cultural differences inform many of the problems between the Rainbow Coalition and established Left-liberal groups...

...In the last few months, he has met with the leaders of Japan, South Korea, major league baseball, and the frontline states of Southern Africa...

...He's come out in favor of boxer Sugar Ray Leonard's retirement...

...It wasn't until Milton Coleman's indiscretion that Jackson began to come to grips with the racism implicit in those notions...

...The secular, cultural-relativist spirit that gave birth to modern liberalism and its socialist variants has never been a strong force in the African-American community...

...Part of Jackson's initial alliance with Farrakhan grew out of his need to gain authenticity among grass-roots blacks...

...Most of the prominent African-American Left theorists, including Amiri Baraka and Manning Marable, have endorsed Jackson's efforts, in part because he's the only game in town...

...Many nationalists also were angered by Jackson's response to the apparent increase in racially inspired violence...

...Though he remains a controversial figure for many blacks, Jackson's 1984 campaign and subsequent political activities have increased his credibility...

...Political leaders who sacrifice rational discourse on the altar of some religious system are to be feared...

...I'm pretty sure that this time Jesse will attract a lot more support from black officeholders," says Hamm...

...They share many of the same problems as the black community, and many also share an African heritage," Casuso notes...

...although the Nation of Islam has a nationwide membership of no more than 30,000, it is widely respected in black urban communities...

...Many condescendingly regarded him as an ideological interloper who wound up on the Left by default...

...And what's perhaps more important, he has developed a seemingly authentic empathy for the diverse range of aggrieved Americans he'd like to gather into his National Rainbow Coalition...

...And, unlike any other candidate, Jackson supports the right of Palestinians to a . homeland as well as secure Israeli borders, and he unequivocally opposes the Reagan doctrine of counterrevolution abroad...

...Jerry Watts, a black member of the Democratic Socialists of America and an assistant professor of goverment at Wes-leyan University, criticizes Jackson for bringing the leadership style of "a traditional Southern black Baptist preacher...

...But even the Puerto Ricans aren't very enthusiastic about Jackson...

...Puerto Ricans tend to be the most sympathetic to Jackson...

...Because of his monstrous ego, Jesse is always jumping toward a microphone," Chicago Sun-Times columnist Vernon Jarrett told me in 1983...

...As the issues of peace and nuclear disarmament fade from fashion, Jackson is the only candidate who consistently and substantively addresses those issues, Cortright says...

...As the black Left joined up, it began to have a perceptible influence on Jackson's politics...

...He opted instead to frame the conflict in an economic context...

...The black nationalists who found value in Jackson through his association with Far-rakhan are considerably more wary of the candidate this time...

...They claim that Jackson's political ambitions caused him to soften his stand on important issues...

...Jackson's Challenge Building a radical base BY SALIM MUWAKKIL When Jesse Louis Jackson came to the tiny farm town of Greenfield, Iowa, to open his "exploratory" Presidential campaign office, the forty-five-year-old Baptist preacher was consciously trying to expand his political base...

...A strong showing by Jackson, they claim, could serve simply to assure a Republican victory...

...Like many black activists and intellecSalim Muwakkil is the associate editor of In These Times...

...Yet "they'll candidly admit that the Rainbow Coalition's positions on peace and disarmament coincide with their own, and that Jackson is a far superior peace candidate...

...They are aware of the limits of dissent within the worshipful Jackson camp...

...Today editor and author of a critical book on Jackson, "but he's one of black people's greatest heroes...

...I'd predict that at any given time, at least one-third of all Hispanics—except Puerto Ricans—would vote against any black candidate...

...More and more voters seem ready to listen to Jackson these days...

...Not just the loss of a job, but the loss of a future...

...There is something about this criticism that resonates in the hearts of many on the Left, and well it should...

...Jackson has retained his leftist orientation, and that has not cut into his popular black appeal...

...By the summer of 1983, it became apparent to all black progressives that the only black 'Presidential hopeful' we had Jackson has retained his leftist orientation, and that has not cut into his popular black appeal...

...Many blacks, especially in the underclass, hold the Nation of Islam in special, unspoken, esteem...

...What kept them away the last time was the perception that we weren't organized...

...There is a widespread impression that he is egocentric and opportunistic...

...Author Adolph Reed was furious after reading an article in The Nation about Jesse Jackson's campaign that year...

...Some elected officials who offered support in 1984, when Jackson's campaign assumed crusade proportions, now are less enthusiastic about what they view as merely a symbolic gesture...

...While the American Left was nourished on the intellectual legacies of Voltaire, Locke, Rousseau, and Marx, most black activists gained sustenance from appeals to Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, or King...

...Exaltation of an idealized view of black folk life and its alleged or-ganicism—most distinctive prior to the 'revolutionary' turn during the civil-rights era—connects with the New Left counter-culturalist's imagery of blacks as the embodiment of a more visceral and authentic humanity...

...It's corporate greed pitting working-class whites and blacks against each other...

...But blacks appreciate Jackson's eagerness to take on any issue, according to William Strickland, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts...

...It tends to reinforce the old image of him as a political huckster, crassly exploiting the emotional issues of the moment...

...As he prepares once again to run for the Democratic Presidential nomination, Jackson is showing a new understanding of the concerns and sensitivities of the Jewish community...

...However, it also forced Jackson to examine and transcend his own prejudices...

...Jackson's image as an advocate of social justice was badly tarnished in 1984 when Washington Post reporter Milton Coleman revealed that the candidate, in a conversation with black reporters, had referred to Jews as "Hymies" and New York City as "Hymietown...

...The peace movement also seems to be moving toward greater cooperation with Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition...

...He has dropped out of the ethnic "ouch contest" (i.e., blacks have suffered more than Jews, South Africa more than Poland) he once played with such relish...

...The people in the community love Jesse more than ever," says Larry Hamm, an independent candidate for the state assembly who heads the New Jersey chapter of the Rainbow Coalition...

...Reed criticized the white Left's "excep-tionalist assumptions" about the black community...

...The real fight is at the farm foreclosures, the plant closings, the missile sites, and the shipyards where foreign goods that put our workers out of jobs enter the country...

...Reed had planned merely to write a stinging letter to the editor, but his ire eventually fueled an entire book...

...Some Coalition organizers reveal several instances in which Jackson's capricious behavior presented them with needless obstacles...

...The black political establishment has not yet embraced Jackson...

...People have to come out in support of him in his egocentrie posturing so that he won't look bad or lose credibility as a black leader...

...The average brother and sister still see him as a heroic figure...